We recently finished potty training Thing 1, and let me tell you — it was a bumpy road.  My original goal was to have him potty trained before the arrival of Thing 2 so as to avoid buying twice the diapers.  Yeah…that didn’t happen.  Apparently, Thing 1’s bottom has very refined taste and was not pleased by the freebie Diego potty adapter I’d presented him with.

Determined to ease the financial burden of diapers for two and entirely fed up with the unsavory task of changing a three year old’s “grown up” poop, I embarked upon a quest to find the perfect potty that would magically entice Thing 1 to poop in the toilet instead of his pants.  Read on for details of our potty training journey!
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I recently joined the MomsRising Good Food Force, which aims to ensure that kids have access to healthy foods in school and to push back against junk food marketing to kids.  My inaugural action was to contribute a post to their blog for a blog carnival.  You can find the article, “School Lunches:  Unity in the Quest for Quality” here.

Check it out, and feel free to let me know your thoughts and ideas on the topic!

When we found out I was pregnant with our second child, I felt pretty confident about my parenting skills and was certain that this time around would be much easier because, hey, I’ve done this once before and have it all figured out. Well, apparently, kids are all different. I know… I was flabbergasted too. When did we start allowing individuality in our children? What’s this world coming to?!

My son (Thing 1) took to the pacifier from day one, and it was his best friend until we finally got him totally weaned from it when he was almost 3 (I know…I’m a little ashamed it took us this long).  My daughter (Thing 2)?  Hates them. I tried four different types, and she rejected them all.  Not just rejection either – she gets downright angry when you try to give her one.

When we needed to soothe a colicky Thing 1 to sleep, we turned on the vacuum or TV.  He loved noise. In fact, there were many nights in the first months when we would fold out the futon, put our jammied little bundle in the middle and watch episodes of the BBC Robin Hood until he woke up for his 11pm feedings. Our sweet little girl, on the other hand, is a far more sensitive soul. She’s often not quite sure what to make of her constantly noisy (yes, apparently his spirit is still soothed by sound) big brother, the vacuum scares her and she will absolutely not go to sleep unless we prepare her room with dim mood lighting and silence.

When she put my fingers in her mouth the other day and I felt the jagged edges of her first tooth, I’ll admit, I panicked a little. She’s only 3 1/2 months! Thing 1 didn’t get his first tooth until he was around 8 months, and then he got four at once (boy was that fun!).  He wasn’t really into teethers and seemed mostly satisfied to gum his pacifier. I could tell Thing 2 really wanted something in her mouth (as long as it wasn’t a pacifier), so I ran to Target, grabbed one of each teether in stock and brought them home. Click “Read More” to see the line up and Thing 2’s review of each, interpreted by me.

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